[geeman]

DAY SEVEN: HEY, HEY, IT'S A MONKEE!

Let's see. You'd think that after a full week of this stuff we'd be winding down. That we'd had enough of park-hopping, crowd fighting, Mickey sightings... but it was just the opposite! RAC and Michelle both had an extra hopping day available, so the three of us got up extra early and head on over to the Magic Kingdom for the Extra Magic hour on Sunday morning. We did a lot of the rides we'd missed previously. After a bumpy, crazy ride through Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain, I decided it was time to move on to my next task - meeting up with (yet another niece and her family) for a dress rehearsal for my grandnephew's Confirmation. I spent some quality time with my niece and her family, while RAC and Michele continued their park-hopping through MGM and then EPCOT. After our dress rehearsal was done, I headed out to visit with my sister and her clan for a bit again,(nothing like a home-cooked meal!), and then decided to see if I could possibly make it to EPCOT in time to catch the performance by Davy Jones (which I kept talking about all week). I left my sister's area ( which is about an hour away from Orlando) at around 6:30, alternating thoughts in my mind as to whether or not I'd actually make it in time. (You're going to have to park, then walk halfway around the "world". There's no way you can do that by 8:15!). Well, magically, I arrived at EPCOT at around 7:45. I found a convenient spot to park in the third row (it's so cool coming to park at the park at night - you can pretty much park where you want to). I raced in, opened up my camera bag for security, and then, walking briskly and determined, taking in just a few of the magical flowers and gardens, made my way to the American Pavillion. As I walked past China, I noticed for the first time in all my visits that there was a restaurant there! "Hmmm. I wonder if they know?", I thought about my cohorts, who I could not reach via cellphone for some reason. I'd instructed them that I'd be at the Jones concert if I could, and that they could find me there afterward.Well, amazingly, I made it all the way to the America Gardens theater by 8:12 - just minutes before showtime.I found a great empty row, and was able to take in a fun performance by the former Monkee as well as obtain some great video memories of it! Ironically, this was my second Monkee in two months. I recently caught Mickey Dolenz on stage in Broadway's AIDA. My older sister was envious that I was getting to see her teen idols up close and personal!

After the show, i searched for my cohorts, who were nowhere in sight. I decided to head for the exit, as the Illuminations show started around me. For company, idecided to chat with DGF over the phone, since I missed her company on this trip, and thought it would be a fun way to get through the crowds, with EPCOT exploding all around me. I finally did meet up with the other two, who had indeed eaten at the Chinese Pavillion (and raved about it). RAC and Michele had survived a blockbuster day, park hopping between three parks and catching up on all they'd missed during the crowded times earlier in the week. This part of the trip wrapped up as a great success. Once again, we arrived at the Contemporary as the Wishes show exploded in the sky. Before heading up, I took a spot on the beach area to have a Mickey Bar and watch the electrical parade from the shore while relaxing, this last evening at the resort.